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The Weekly Newspaper of Inglewood
Daily News on a Weekly Basis - Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - August 30, 2018
First Annual Mega Block Party
Members of the Inglewood Police Department participated in the A Toast 2 Artistry LA event at the first annual Mega Block Club Party. The festivities took place the afternoon of Aug. 25. Photo: Inglewood PD
Construction Firm Caught Again
Stealing Pay from Its Workers
By Rob McCarthy
A drywall crew that won a $1.2 million
judgment against its employer for cheating
on their paychecks can enjoy Labor Day this
year knowing that the law is on their side.
Champion Construction kept false payroll
records over a six-month period to cover up
wage theft affecting 103 workers who didn’t
get the proper wage and fringe benefits on a
public works project, according to authorities.
The cheating on payroll happened on a
construction job at a Long Beach high school.
Turns out, Champion is a repeat offender.
The company got caught underpaying its
laborers in 2017 on a separate project in El
Segundo. Champion committed wage theft
against 47 workers in the earlier instance.
Since getting caught twice, Champion lost its
contractors license and is no longer a public
works contractor, according to investigators
with the Department of Labor.
The latest case was opened in March 2016
after state investigators received a complaint
from a trade group. The follow-up included
interviews with more than 30 Champion
employees and a payroll audit for the laborers
on the Long Beach school project.
The case ended last month when the
drywaller repaid the 103 employees almost
$7,200 apiece and $434,000 in penalties to
the state labor commissioner.
California’s labor commissioner issued
a reminder for the area’s builders that are
experiencing a boom in construction and
roadway projects using public funds. There
is a major water system rebuilding project
happening in Inglewood and Hawthorne,
and road and freeway repairs have begun in
earnest using taxpayer money from higher
gas taxes and local transit measures.
“Prevailing wages create a level playing
field for all contractors bidding on public
construction projects,” said Commissioner
Julie Su. “This clearly demonstrates that
general contractors who select contractors
that don’t play by the rules will pay a heavy
price.”
Workers in California have a right to file a
wage claim when their employers do not pay
them the wages or benefits they are owed. A
wage claim starts the process to collect on
those unpaid wages or benefits. California’s
labor laws protect all workers, regardless of
immigration status.
All workers employed on public works
projects must be paid the prevailing wage,
according to the type of work and location
of the project. Failure to comply with public
works requirements can result in civil penalties,
criminal prosecution, or both. Enforcement
investigations typically include a payroll
audit of the past three years to determine
minimum wage, overtime and other labor
law violations.
The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement,
or the Labor Commissioner’s Office
has wide-ranging enforcement responsibilities,
including public works enforcement,
adjudicating wage claims, and inspecting
workplaces for wage and hour violations.
Agents also investigate retaliation complaints
by whistleblowers.
A supervisor or manager who violates
workers’ labor rights can sometimes be
held responsible too, for any violations by
the employer.
Wage theft in general erodes the standards
of living for the most vulnerable members
of the labor force, according to an economic
think tank. The Economic Policy Institute
estimates that in the 10 most populous states,
an average of $3,300 is illegally withheld
from the paychecks of workers. Many earn
the minimum wage, the group found.
“Minimum wage violations, by definition,
affect the lowest-wage workers—those who
can least afford to lose earnings. This form
of wage theft causes many families to fall
below the poverty line, and it increases workers’
reliance on public assistance, costing
taxpayers money.”
Payroll cheating produces a trickle-down
effect in the labor pool too. Lost wages put
downward pressure on wages in the surrounding
community. When employers cheat
on hourly payroll, others in the labor force
pay for it. Key findings in the study released
last year found:
-- Workers affected by minimum wage
violations are underpaid by an average of
$64 per week, nearly one-quarter of their
weekly earnings.
-- Young workers, women, people of color
and immigrant workers are more likely than
other workers to report being paid less than
the minimum wage. This is primarily because
they occupy low-wage jobs, the authors said.
-- And low-wage workers experience minimum
wage violations at high rates across
demographic categories, the institute said.
“In fact, the majority of workers with
reported wages below the minimum wage
are over 25 and are native-born U.S. citizens,
nearly half are white, more than a quarter
have children, and just over half work full
time,” it was revealed.
See Construction Firm, page 8